A new purchasing coordinator can use AI to write a clear supplier email and still miss the decision behind it. Before sending an order question, the coordinator needs to know which documents disagree, what remains unconfirmed, and who can resolve it.

Datum recommends practicing that judgment on a fictional supplier handoff. Ask the employee to explain the next step before showing an AI-generated answer. Then use the answer as material to question and correct. The exercise should leave the manager with evidence of what the employee understands.

Separate completed work from learned work

Anthropic’s January 2026 study examined software developers learning an unfamiliar programming library. The group with AI assistance performed worse on an immediate comprehension quiz; the difference in task completion time was not statistically significant. The researchers also observed that stronger learning outcomes were associated with uses such as requesting explanations and asking conceptual questions. That observation did not establish that those behaviors caused better learning.

The study covered coding and measured understanding shortly after the task. It does not establish what will happen in a showroom or purchasing department, or what employees will remember later. Datum’s proposed handoff exercise is an application to test in your business, not a result from that study.

Prepare a fictional handoff with a known answer

Have an experienced purchaser write a short practice packet using invented project and product names. Include a purchase order, a supplier acknowledgment, and the company procedure that governs discrepancies. Keep it separate from live purchasing records so nobody mistakes a practice email for an instruction to a supplier.

For example, suppose the practice order names a satin finish while the acknowledgment names polished. The supplier also gives an estimated ship date, but the packet contains no confirmed arrival date. The manager’s answer key should explain the finish conflict, the unanswered delivery question, and the person authorized to resolve each item under your procedure.

Write that answer key before using AI. Identify the source passage behind each expected observation. If the procedure leaves responsibility unclear, resolve the training material with its owner. An AI-generated answer should not establish company policy.

Let the employee make the first attempt

Give the employee the packet and ask for a draft internal handoff. Keep the reference documents available. The aim is to practice finding and using evidence, so there is no need to turn the exercise into a memory test.

  • What disagrees between the order and the acknowledgment? Point to both passages.
  • What does the ship date tell you, and what does it leave unanswered?
  • Who needs to answer the question before the next action can proceed?
  • What would you tell the project manager now, without implying that the supplier has confirmed more than it has?

After the first attempt, use a company-approved AI workspace to explore the reasoning. Ask it to question one unsupported conclusion in the draft and identify the relevant passage. The employee should explain whether the criticism is valid. Have the manager check the exchange against the answer key; AI feedback can also be wrong.

If AI produces a complete answer immediately, save the employee’s original attempt and discuss the differences. A polished rewrite alone gives the manager little evidence that the employee can recognize the same problem next time.

Change the case and check again

Prepare another fictional packet with a different discrepancy. Let the employee work from the documents without an AI answer beside them, then explain the handoff to the manager. Later, revisit a similar case to see which parts still need coaching.

Record whether the employee found the discrepancy, supported it with the right passages, preserved uncertainty, and chose the correct person to ask. Record the hints the manager supplied as well. These are proposed checks for the exercise; they are not a validated training score or proof of readiness for every purchasing decision.

If the employee can repeat the wording but cannot explain why the handoff is incomplete, return to that decision in training. If the employee catches a mistake in the AI feedback and supports the correction, keep that exchange as a useful example for the next session.

Bring a redacted handoff example and the decision you want a new employee to understand to a conversation with Adam. Datum Training helps your people build and run their own AI tools. A small practice exercise can help define what those tools should teach and what a manager needs to review.

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Next step, if this note maps to a problem on your desk: book a conversation with Adam. Thirty minutes, weekday evenings, Eastern time.

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